21.5.07

Yesterday I did something I´ve never done before.I sent back a dish to the kitchen.It made me feel so bad. I´ve been told, all my life, to be nice and pleasant and well-mannered, to take the rough with the smooth, to not be a grouch. But I looked at that pasta dish, the 13€ pasta dish, that had pisto where it had said it´d have pesto, and I was annoyed. But I thought, well, never mind, let´s just eat it, it smells good. But it was salty. So salty as to be really really bad. I tried another mouthful, but there I stopped. I change drawings all the time, I reasoned. If clients don´t like it, I start over. That´s how it goes, right? No offence, surely?It was hard. It went very much against the grain. I´m not your outspoken, open type. Muttering darkly behind backs is more my style.As I told the waitress to take it back, I told her not to bring anything else instead, because I was too full from the starter, anyway. Which was delicious, and so you can tell the chef from me, please do.See? The well-brought up little girl, to the last.The guys admitted that the dish was inedible, by the way, and sent back a tray of complimentary puddings, which was very sweet of them. I just hope I haven´t made enemies for life.

10 comentarios:

Aww, I doubt that you made enemies for life as after such a polite message was sent into the kitchen, they made good with the puds :) I think you were justified though, to not have means that they would have thought it satisfactory to serve substandard food and think that nobody would care or be any wiser! If this makes them pull up their game, then in essence you've done them a favour!

Good girl! I agree with Ellie - it sounds like you were really polite in the way you did it. I've had to send a dish back once, at a restaurant in Edinburgh. My halloumi salad had black, chargrilled, rubbery halloumi on top, which was impossible to eat. The waitress came back from the kitchen and said that's how it is supposed to be. I do know my halloumi cheese, and that was way too burnt. However, shortly afterwards she returned and said that the chef indeed agrees that it was overburnt, and they replaced it with a nice and properly grilled halloumi. I didn't get any desserts, but I didn't have to pay for the salad either:) And who wouldn't like your drawings first time around - they're gorgeous!?

I've always been reluctant to send an order back in a restaurant, too, but there are times when you just need to do it. Having been on both sides of the experience (as a waiter and a diner), I can attest that if you just point out the problem nicely and politely no one gets upset on the restaurant's side--diners send back dishes all the time, and many of them are very rude about it--and you'll get a meal that you can actually enjoy eating.

There's a difference between being nice and being too nice. Good job sticking up for yourself!

ellie: well, I hope so. the puds were very good, too.pille: it´s really annoying when they try to argue, though, isn´t it?cindy: this one was worth a lot of salt, I bet!xps: la cosa del padrino, ya veslydia: I´m going to remember that, it´s a good thing to know.jerry: it´s hard, but I think we have tohelena: absolutely!robert: I feel empowered, a strong, confident woman now.